Stone Temple Pilots play Pier Six

Show hinges on perenially troubled front man Scott Weiland

The 1990s saw the ascent of a slew of great rock bands: Nirvana, Pavement, Pearl Jam, Phish, Rage Against the Machine and a few more you're probably naming in your head right now.

Stone Temple Pilots was and is only a very good rock band, but if the weather and perennially troubled lead singer Scott Weiland cooperate at Pier Six on Tuesday, they'll do just fine.

Without a doubt, this band can play. Along with the Seattle-ites, Dean DeLeo helped rock guitar get back to its meaty, blues-based roots in the '90s, following the limp, classically influenced shredder craze that ruled the '80s. STP's sort of riff-rock is only as good as its rhythm section, and you can be sure that bassist Robert DeLeo and drummer Eric Kretz will be locked in tight on "Sex Type Thing," "Vasoline," "Dead & Bloated," "Wicked Garden" and other bludgeoning standouts. Those songs sound big on record; live, they can become enormous.

Hopefully they'll play a few newer ones — how many '90s-era bands can you say that about? — like the cooking "Between the Lines" or "Cinnamon," an unabashed pop song.

And then there's Weiland, whose baritone always took more criticism than it deserved, but whose lyrics can make Eddie Vedder seem like Dylan. Reports of his alleged substance abuse or lack thereof are always around, but if the date isn't canceled he tends to pull it off — dressing like a junior executive from the Sunset Strip, dancing like a car-dealership inflatable figure, and grabbing his megaphone when he gets bored. Sure, there will be some between-song gibberish to endure, but what else is new in rock 'n' roll?